The Auricle Sonic Arts Gallery
Tuesday 4th February 6-8pm
Facebook event
Join us the evening of Tuesday 4th February for the opening of John Chrisstoffels’ exhibition The International Step – a mesmeric and enveloping quadraphonic, audiovisual installation, within which one encounters a veritable chorus sounding the tension between, variously, the aural and the visual, reality and illusion, time and being, transience and permanence, place and non-place, difference and repetition.
The Auricle Sonic Arts Gallery
Opening event: Tuesday 4th February 6-8pm
Artist talk: Saturday 8th February 5pm
Final performance event with the Laid Baxters and Misfit Mod: Friday 21st February 7pm
Showing 4-23 February, 2014
The Auricle is proud to present John Chrisstoffels’ The International Step – a mesmeric and enveloping quadraphonic, audiovisual installation, within which one encounters a veritable chorus sounding the tension between, variously, the aural and the visual, reality and illusion, time and being, transience and permanence, place and non-place, difference and repetition.
The aural component of The International Step comprises two separate sound recordings of travelators and ambient noises captured in malls and airports that, via post-processing, are transformed into a dynamically shifting, four-channel presentation. The visual component, which is periodically faded for the purpose of aural immersion, comprises a trance-inducing projection of travelator steps passing through the camera frame. Chrisstoffels describes The International Step as part of his doctoral research into the idea that, through time-based art, it may be possible to reveal an immanent, Bergsonian, Élan Vital or ‘vital impetus for change’ underpinning what Marc Augé refers to as the ‘non-places’ of the present-day world.
In Chrisstoffels’ work, there is a particular interest in the non-places of waiting areas in airport terminals. Here, modern architecture, with its relentless litany of repeating forms and motifs, creates a sense of changelessness and normality, and yet, in so doing, frames a human experience that is, literally, transient. The International Step translates the experience of ‘non-place’ into the space of the art gallery (the seemingly changeless ‘white cube’ that transforms with each new exhibition mounted) and, indeed, provides an opportunity to reflect on the current non-place status of a post-quake Christchurch-eternally-under-construction.
Chrisstoffels is a Senior Lecturer in Film at the University of Canterbury School of Fine Arts and is currently pursuing doctoral studies through the Elam School of Fine Arts at the University of Auckland. In his various capacities as a filmmaker and cinematographer, as a technical advisor for various funding bodies and art institutions, and as a member of legendary music groups like The Terminals, Chrisstoffels’s diverse and numerous contributions to the cultural life of Christchurch and, indeed, New Zealand as a whole, now extend over more than twenty years.
The Auricle Sonic Arts Gallery
Thursday, January 16 at 6:00pm
Facebook event
The Auricle, the South Island’s first dedicated public sonic arts gallery, officially opens on 16th January with its inaugural exhibition, Ekklesia by local artist, Matthew Scobie.
Posing the question: “What is the biggest problem you face living in Christchurch right now?” Ekklesia is a dynamic electroacoustic installation created from public responses recorded both before and over the course of the exhibition. The voices of the city’s people are both its medium and its message, with visitors invited to contribute their concerns to the work, which over the two weeks of the show will build in intensity to reflect the size of the problem collectively faced by the community. The interactive and constantly evolving nature of the work reflects the idea of the ekklesia, where everyone gets an equal say and everyone has to listen.
Matthew Scobie is a Christchurch artist whose work reflects his interest in political, environmental and social justice issues and has seen him collaborate across genres, including work with the designer, Elle Plank presented at Auckland’s Art in the Dark. His musical background is diverse: from playing percussion and participating in more traditional ensembles in his youth, to performing in numerous rock bands, such as T54 and Planet of the Tapes. He studied sonic arts at the University of Canterbury, where he won the Lilburn Award for composition in both 2012 and 2013.
The Auricle Sonic Arts Gallery
Opening 16 January, 6-8pm
Showing 17-30 January, 2014
Facebook event
The Auricle is proud to present its inaugural exhibition, Ekklesia by local artist, Matthew Scobie, which marks the official opening of the gallery. Posing the question: “What is the biggest problem you face living in Christchurch right now?” Ekklesia is a dynamic electroacoustic installation created from public responses recorded both before and over the course of the exhibition.
In Ekklesia the voices of the city’s people are both its medium and its message. Visitors to the exhibition are also invited to contribute their concerns to the work, which over the two weeks of the show will build in intensity to reflect the size of the problem collectively faced by the community. The interactive and constantly evolving nature of the work reflects the idea of the ekklesia, where everyone gets an equal say and everyone has to listen.
Matthew Scobie is a Christchurch artist whose work reflects his interest in political, environmental and social justice issues and has seen him collaborate across genres, including work with designer, Elle Plank presented at Auckland’s Art in the Dark. His musical background is diverse: from playing percussion and participating in more traditional ensembles in his youth, to performing in numerous rock bands, such as T54 and Planet of the Tapes. He studied sonic arts at the University of Canterbury, where he won the Lilburn Award for first in composition in both 2012 and 2013.
Gallery Hours:
Wednesday – Saturday 12am-5pm
Sunday 12pm-4pm